Sick in the City
by f.f. lindy
Summary: Scully gets the flu on a case in San Francisco


Title: Sick in the City  
  
Author: f.f. lindy  
  
Date: 7/21/02  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimer: No, they are not mine.that would be really cool though.  
  
Spoilers: none (yey)  
  
Feedback: Please-this is only the second fic I have ever had the nerve to post and half the reason I am posting it is because of the feedback I got from the last one.  
  
Thank you to "Little red" who sent me the very first feedback ever (which I printed out and put in a sheet protector to keep forever) and encouraged me to post another one of my stories. I guess I should also thank my teachers last year who worked me too hard so I go really sick and had the time and inspiration to write this story.  
  
I really apologize for the lack of paragraphs and stuff but it wont recognize the return key when I upload it.  
  
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It started out as just a twinge of a soar throat on Sunday, but as the days past it got worse. By Wednesday I was sick. I had it all: soar throat, stuffy nose, headache, stomachache, and a touch of a fever, every sign of a common bug. Mulder knew by then that I didn't feel good. He spent a good part of every day suggesting I take sick leave. I spent almost as much insisting that I wouldn't.  
  
It was only 10 o'clock in the morning when we got a call from Skinner about a case he wanted us to go on in California. Luckily I had answered the phone, or else Mulder would have told him I was too sick to go, and though I didn't particularly want to go, I didn't want Skinner to force me out of work.  
  
We agreed to meet back at the office in two hours. We both went home to pack, and just three hours later we were on a plane headed for San Francisco. "You shouldn't have come, Scully." Mulder reminded me as I sat on the plane coughing.  
  
"I'll be fine Mulder"  
  
"Will you at least take a rest? I'll order you a glass of orange juice when they come by."  
  
I sighed, but agreed anyway, knowing that Mulder is a persistent man. I must have been a lot sleepier than I'd thought, because I fell right to sleep and didn't wake up for nearly three hours. Mulder and I visited and read for the remainder of the flight, and at two o'clock pacific time we landed in Northern California. I stood to get off the plane and was hit with a wave of dizziness and my head began to pound. My body fell back into the seat. Mulder saw this and quickly set down his carry on and sat back down. "Are you okay?"  
  
Holding my head in my hands, eyes closed, I whispered a soft yeah. He felt my forehead, then his own. "Scully, you have a fever."  
  
"I'll be fine, just give me a minute." I insisted.  
  
He shook his head and smiled, running a hand through my hair. He stood and got my carry on down from the compartment, waited for the aisle to clear up, then offered a hand to help me up. I took it and stood, again pounded by a headache. I stopped and closed my eyes, waiting for it to pass. He saw me wobble and wrapped an arm around my back to steady me. We walked slowly off the plane.  
  
When we finally got out of the busy airport and got our rental car it was past three. He helped me into the passenger seat then put our things in the trunk. We already had hotel reservations, so he got in and drove us there. It wasn't as seedy as some we'd stayed in, and we each had a queen bed and a tv/vcr, so we couldn't complain.  
  
He brought my things in for me, then set his own down next door. We both opened our adjoining door. "I guess we should read up on the case," I suggested. He took the file out of his suitcase. I went to the bathroom to grab a tissue to blow my quickly chapping nose.  
  
"You are too sick to do anything." he said, concerned.  
  
I didn't have the energy to argue, standing up to settle into the room was already using all the energy I had. I collapsed onto the bed. "If I could afford to be sick, I would be." I sighed.  
  
"And if I didn't care about you so much, I would let you work this hard when you aren't feeling up to it." He walked over to the bed where I lay and took off my shoes. "You take a rest and I'll go check out this case. If I need your help I'll give you a call." He rubbed my feet for a minute.  
  
"Are you sure you can do this alone? I'll fell guilty."  
  
"I can do it. I want you to feel better."  
  
"Okay," I sighed, not having near the amount of energy necessary to win this battle, and quite honestly not wanting to. "Thank you so much. I owe you one."  
  
"Just get better for me. 'Kay?" He smiled at me, setting my feet back down on the bed. I smiled for him.  
  
"Be careful." I warned as he walked out the door with the file he'd taken from his suitcase.  
  
Soon I found myself drifting back to sleep. When I finally woke up it was to the feeling of a hand brushing through my hair. I let my eyelids flutter open to expose just who was in charge of this expression of kindness. It was Mulder. I felt a smile erupt on my face. "Felling any better?" he asked, noticing I was awake.  
  
"Mmm, hmm," I hummed. "Thank you. How is the investigation going?"  
  
"Relatively uneventful. I swear they give us some of these cases because they couldn't find anyone else who would take them. It could be solved just as easily by the police, and probably will be by the time we get up in the morning."  
  
"I'm sorry. Let me take you out to dinner, as a thank you for taking all that while I slept."  
  
"I don't think so. It seems you've forgotten that you're sick. You can have your choice of anything that will deliver here."  
  
"Well, in that case," I smiled, going along with it as to not spoil the mood we had created with a fight, "how does Chinese food sound?"  
  
"That sounds great." He reached into the drawer of my nightstand to get out the phone book. He set it sown on the bed next to me and searched for a place that would deliver.  
  
When our orange chicken and vegetable chow mein arrived it was almost seven. We turned on the TV and ate our dinner while we watched sit-coms off the local station. Not long after we finished eating I left to take a shower and get ready for bed. Before coming back out of the bathroom I took a couple of aspirin. I felt terrible despite all the rest I had gotten. My stomach still felt foul and the delicious dinner wasn't helping. Mulder was still sitting on the corner of my bed when I hobbled out. "You ready for bed?" he asked, as I sat down.  
  
"Yeah," I said meekly. As if on cue it hit me that I was going to throw up. I stood and dashed back to the bathroom. He followed me and knelt down beside me, with one hand on my forehead and the other holding back my hair. I felt as if I'd thrown up more than I'd eaten when it finally stopped. I practically fell backwards into Mulder's strong embrace. He gently unwound me from his arms and stood to get me a glass of water. When he brought it back to me I drank thirstily, trying to rinse the taste out of my mouth. He got me a damp washrag to cool my face and clean up. "Thank you, Mulder." I said, on the verge of tears. I leaned back onto the bathroom wall, not wanting to stand.  
  
"No problem. Feeling any better?" I shook my head in response. "Let's get you back to bed," he suggested, helping me stand. I agreed and hung onto him as he nearly carried me out of the bathroom.  
  
Once I was tucked safely in bed, Mulder retreated to the bathroom to tidy up a little before coming back to my bedside. He pulled up a chair and sat next to me, then began stroking my hair. "What would I do without you to take care of me?" I asked softly.  
  
His hand traveled to my cheek, where he caressed the bale skin with his thumb. "Don't even think about that. I'll always be here to take care of you." I felt my body warm with his soothing words. Despite the disease infesting my body I was happy. I couldn't imagine a more perfect feeling.  
  
"I know you will Mulder, but you'd never be the first to say a word about it. I don't deserve you."  
  
"You deserve a man much better that I am, Scully. Every day I thank God that you came into my life."  
  
I was truly touched by his words. I brought my hand to his. We just stayed like that for a while, looking into each other's eyes. Finally he broke the silence. "Can I get you anything? Are you comfortable?"  
  
"I'm fine Mulder, thanks." I said, no longer irritated by this coddling.  
  
"Okay, then I'll let you get some rest. Maybe you'll feel a little better in the morning." He bent over me and placed a gentle kiss on my forehead. I beamed, feeling his lips on my skin.  
  
"Mulder," I said, "would you stay with me just a little longer." He smiled and nodded in response. Then at back down in the chair her had brought over. I glanced at the clock to see that it was only eight thirty. "So, I guess we're heading home tomorrow." I said, trying to make conversation.  
  
"I don't know. None of the locals exactly welcomed my assistance. They said they'd call me if they needed my help. I guess I'll give the chief of police a call tomorrow afternoon and see how they're doing.  
  
"Skinner wouldn't have made us take this case if you would've told him you were sick. You could be at home getting better," he said with a tone of voice far from accusation and more one of worry about my well- being.  
  
"But at least this way I get to enjoy your company." I said, exposing my arterial motive.  
  
"Well," he smiled, "should the situation arise again I'd be more than happy to entertain you in DC." I agreed with his proposal and told him that I would not do it again, but we both knew I was lying.  
  
Not long after, I fell asleep. When I woke up around eight to next morning I could see from my bed Mulder was sound asleep in his room. We spent the day laying around waiting for the police to call. When Mulder called them they had yet to solve the case but they didn't want his help or mine. I was slowly recovering from my flu, enjoying all of the little things that Mulder did to take care of me.  
  
When Friday rolled around I was feeling well enough to be out of the hotel room. I convinced Mulder to let me go see San Francisco. We rode a cable car, went shopping at pier 39 and had clam chowder for dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. Then Mulder took me to a place called Teddy Crafters where you can stuff your own teddy bear. He insisted that he buy me one. When they gave me the 'heart' to put in it they asked me if I wanted to kiss it first so I could send my love to whoever hugged the teddy bear. I didn't really want to, but Mulder took it from my hands and kissed it, then gave it back. The girl working there looked satisfied and smiled at us. When the teddy bear was finished they gave it to me, and Mulder paid for it. I thanked him heartily and he gave me a side hug as I squeezed the bear tightly. Our final stop before heading back to the hotel was at Ghirardelles Square where we bought some amazing chocolate.  
  
By the time we got back tot he hotel I was burnt out. It was only three o'clock but the day had been busy and a lot to take in. We hung out in my room until deciding we were hungry. Mulder picked up soup and sandwiches from a near-by deli for our dinner after dinner I got ready for bed and Mulder tucked me in, making sure I had everything I needed. I assured him that I did, but he didn't leave right away. He sat at my bedside gazing at me for a while. I couldn't figure out just what he was doing. "What are you thinking?" I asked him bravely.  
  
"That you are the most beautiful woman I've ever met," he said softly.  
  
I stopped breathing, my eyes got wide, and my heart started beating quickly. He played with a strand of my hair tenderly. My mind was racing trying to figure out just what this meant. I prayed that this was his way of saying that he loved me, that he wanted to be more than my partner, more than my best friend. Still, I knew that was too much to hope for. "Than you," I responded to bread the silence, and to force my lungs to let out the breath I'd been holding.  
  
"Wow, that's a better response than I expected. Did you notice that I waited until you weren't packing a gun?"  
  
I knew he was just kidding, but it hurt me to know that he would even think I felt like that. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my actions, even though I was just trying to be self-suffiecnt, could be mistaken for a far cry from love. I smiled for him, trying to acknowledge his joke, then went back to trying to memorize the exact way his hand intertwined itself in my air, so that I could sooth myself to sleep with the memory. Realizing that I could use a little love, I looked around for my bear. Seeing me Mulder jumped to attention, "What do you need?"  
  
"I was just looking for my teddy bear.' He smiled and stood to retrieve it for me. When he handed it to me I wrapped it tightly in my embrace and kissed its head unconsciously.  
  
Mulder saw this and chuckled a little. "Lucky bear. What are you going to name it?"  
  
"I don't know yet," I lied, knowing quite well I would call it Fox when he wasn't there to see.  
  
"Kissing him before you even know his name? And all this time I thought you would be harder to get. "  
  
"Well, you gave him to me, so I figure I can trust him."  
  
"Can you trust me?" he asked, pulling himself closer to me.  
  
"You're the only person I can." I whispered.  
  
He brought his lips to mine slowly, then kissed me so gently it could have been mistaken for a warm breeze teasing my senses. When he pulled away he gazed down on me. "I love you." 


End file.
